by Sherry Shindelar
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| Women Volunteering at a Philadelphia Hospital during the Civil War (photo courtesy of the Library of Congress) |
Twenty-eight year-old grammar school teacher, Clara Jones, couldn’t stand the thought of sitting idly by while men were serving and dying on the battlefield for their country. A strong supporter of the Union, she longed to “be in the midst of the distress … lending a helping hand to the poor fellows” instead of being “tied to school.”1
But as a single woman, she couldn’t afford to resign her position as a school teacher, so in her spare time, she threw herself into knitting socks for the soldiers since she couldn’t follow them to the battlefield. However, sewing and knitting weren’t sufficient. During the school summer break of 1861, Clara volunteered as a nurse in a Philadelphia area hospital, near her home in Germantown, PA, after wounded soldiers were sent there to recover. She couldn’t bear to think of men “dying without a friendly hand to minister to their necessities, tossing about in pain, and none to hold the cup of water to the parched lips.” Clara determined to do what she could to help care for them.
But as a single woman, she couldn’t afford to resign her position as a school teacher, so in her spare time, she threw herself into knitting socks for the soldiers since she couldn’t follow them to the battlefield. However, sewing and knitting weren’t sufficient. During the school summer break of 1861, Clara volunteered as a nurse in a Philadelphia area hospital, near her home in Germantown, PA, after wounded soldiers were sent there to recover. She couldn’t bear to think of men “dying without a friendly hand to minister to their necessities, tossing about in pain, and none to hold the cup of water to the parched lips.” Clara determined to do what she could to help care for them.
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| Civil War Nurses (Harpers 1862) |
Clara didn’t give up on her dream, and she didn’t make excuses for why she couldn’t do what she felt called to do. She threw herself into serving with a passion. Every school break, she headed to a hospital to care for wounded and suffering soldiers. Serving in Philadelphia wasn’t enough. She volunteered on a hospital ship, in hospitals in Alexandria, VA, and on battlefields. And she wouldn’t take no for an answer, whether the no came from a hospital administrator, a doctor, army officers, or the Superintendent of Army Nurses Dorothea Dix.
Eager to be where most needed, she arrived in Gettysburg, July 19th, two weeks after the battle to work in a hospital of five hundred wounded, of which one hundred were Confederates. She devoted herself to caring for the neglected Rebs, who too often received very little care after an initial exam/treatment from a surgeon. Her heart went out to the dying who “were far from home and friends and no prospect of sending a message to a heartbroken wife or mother.”
A determined lady, Clara passionately pursued her calling. She persevered through moments/hours/days of disappointment, hardship, and frustrations, refusing to allow people or obstacles to get in the way of her caring for the wounded and dying soldiers.
Clara’s Civil War service continued until her sister became seriously ill in 1864, and then she devoted herself to caring for her until her death. This led to a new calling: being a mother to her sister’s three children.
Eager to be where most needed, she arrived in Gettysburg, July 19th, two weeks after the battle to work in a hospital of five hundred wounded, of which one hundred were Confederates. She devoted herself to caring for the neglected Rebs, who too often received very little care after an initial exam/treatment from a surgeon. Her heart went out to the dying who “were far from home and friends and no prospect of sending a message to a heartbroken wife or mother.”
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| Nurses and Wounded Solgiers at the Hospital Tents at Gettysburgh |
A determined lady, Clara passionately pursued her calling. She persevered through moments/hours/days of disappointment, hardship, and frustrations, refusing to allow people or obstacles to get in the way of her caring for the wounded and dying soldiers.
Clara’s Civil War service continued until her sister became seriously ill in 1864, and then she devoted herself to caring for her until her death. This led to a new calling: being a mother to her sister’s three children.
1All quotes are taken from a collection of Clara Jones’s letters held at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine located in Frederick, MD.
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| Sherry Shindelar |
Connect with Sherry: website, newsletter, Amazon, FB, Goodreads
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| Texas Reclaimed |
Can love blossom between a woman haunted by her family’s past and a man with a war-scarred heart?
Cora Scott is determined to hold onto her family's Texas ranch and provide a stable home for her young half brother, Charlie, despite the mounting challenges of post-Civil War frontier life. But when a scheming creditor threatens to seize their land, she must accept help from Ben McKenzie, a former Yankee soldier sent by her late brother. Though Ben's generosity and strength draw her, the man's private struggle she stumbles upon—too reminiscent of her father's alcoholism—makes her question whether she can trust her heart to him.
Ben McKenzie arrives in Texas intent on fulfilling his promise to his dying friend to protect Cora and Charlie. While using his inheritance to save their ranch, he battles not only the loss of their cattle but also his dependency on laudanum—a medicine that turned into a curse after his imprisonment at Andersonville. As his feelings for Cora deepen, he must choose between his promise to his father to take over their Philadelphia newspaper and his growing dream of a life with Cora in Texas.
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